Long-stalled legislation to provide health care for sick Ground Zero workers failed a key test vote in the Senate Thursday, as Republicans remained united in opposition to the measure until passage of a massive tax-cut package.
The vote was 57-42, short of the 60 votes in favor needed to proceed under Senate voting rules.
Prior to the vote, Sen. Charles Schumer sought the two Republicans votes needed to win passage. “I beg, I plead, I implore two brave colleagues from the other side to join us. Put aside the political considerations,” Schumer said.
The vote was a major setback for New York-area lawmakers, who have spent years trying to get the measure passed and now face a shrinking time period in the lame-duck session to bring it back. The bill has already passed the House but has little chance of passing again in the next congressional session under a Republican majority.
Some supporters of the measure are already trying to have it tacked on to the pending tax-cut legislation.
President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans struck a deal for an extension of Bush-era tax cuts as well as a host of other tax credits that Democrats have sought. But the package faces resistance from Democrats who view it as too generous to the wealthy. The 42 Republicans in the Senate have said they will not vote for anything else until the tax package passes.
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Obama has said he will sign the 9/11 health bill if passed. It would provide $3.2 billion to track and treat illnesses among Ground Zero workers and another $4.2 billion to reopen a victim-compensation fund for those who have become ill or died.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, a government-backed compensation fund provided nearly $6 billion for those injured or killed. But eligibility for that program ended in 2003, before many of the illnesses developed that advocates now say were caused by exposure to the toxic World Trade Center dust and debris.
The most recent death blamed on Ground Zero exposure was retired NYPD detective Kevin Czartoryski, 46, who died last week after a battle with lung disease.
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(Source: WSJ)
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5 Responses
The loss of bipartisanship and treating public policy issues as if they were covetred chess pieces is going to cripple the body politic in this country.
The 1940 presidential race was quite contentious; FDR was running for an unprecedented third term, and the GOP, under their dark horse candidate, corporate lawyer Wendell Willkie, ran a hard hitting campaign. But after Willkie lost the election to FDR, he and Roosevelt rolled up their sleeves and worked together to govern the country – Willkie accepted a position as an advisor to Roosevelt. And everyone was better for it: the Democrats, the Republicans and most importantly, the country. We sorely need that sort of principled bipartisanship…but it’s just plain gone.
1, how were we better for it? FDRs policies helped the depression last thru the war? in fact, it was only because of the war that people went back to work.
FDR was NOT the great president you leftists make him out to be.
How can you base your argument that $7.4 Billion is too much money when you just agreed to spend $800 Billion of our children’s and grand children’s money on tax cuts. The heroes of 9/11 who are suffering from chronic illness due to their actions on the day of the worst terror attack on american soil don’t deserve 0.92 percent of what you want to spend on wealthy americans who can afford so called “cadillac” health care plans!!?? This is a new low for the GOP.!
Check out http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/earmarks/ and see how much republicans are spending on their pet projects while american heroes languish in pain and suffering. The double standard is blatant and palpable.
Mark Levin #2,
Of all our comments in this forum, this one must take the cake. You seriously think that Republican opposition to FDRs rearmament and collaboration with Britain were bad things? It is because Republicans like Willkie and Stimson and Knox realized that not just the US but the entire free world (not to mention Jews) were in danger and actively campaigned for FDRs policies that they were overcome the opposition of people like you who put party above national interest.
Disgusting.
Lets do something about this! Sign this petition to get those senators to change their mind. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/pass-the-pass-the-james-zadroga-911-health-bill/